Thane Civil Hospital: Patients still waiting for MRI, CT scan facilities

Despite undergoing renovation in September 2014 most of the patients visiting the Thane Civil Hospital are compelled to get MRI and CT scans done either at private centres or civic hospitals in Mumbai Patients visiting the 400bed medical facility have expressed grievances against the shoddy attitude exhibited by the hospital authorities in upgrading medical facilities at the hospitalDespite its inauguration in February the CT scan department at Thane Civil Hospital has remained shut ever since the machine developed a technical glitch over two months agoA few of them even said that instead of revamping the sitting area and promenade the hospital management should have focused on providing MRI and CT scan facilities to patients This they said would help them avoid the trouble of travelling all the way to KEM and JJ Hospitals in MumbaiLamenting the poor healthcare services provided by the hospital Guru Koli claimed his father would had breathed his last had he had to spend a few more days at the medical facility Narrating his experience Guru said ldquoMy father Ishwar was knocked down by a biker on June 3 in Navpada following which he remained unattended at the spot for the next couple of hoursHe sustained a grievous head injury in the mishap and was rushed to the hospital by the Navpada police after one of the locals informed them about the accident My father lacked identity proof on the day of the accident and it took us six days to trace him I found him at the Thane hospital on June 9 They couldnrsquot perform the CT scan on him because the machine has been lying defunct for the last two monthsrdquoHe claimed that the hospital staff asked him to shift Ishwar to KEM Hospital for further treatment ldquoAll they did was give him saline and first aid treatment Only after reaching KEM my father received proper treatment Citing lack of equipment and resources they refer several patients to other hospitals in Mumbairdquo said GuruIn September 2014 the PWD department claimed it had successfully constructed the CT scan department and that it would start functioning within weeks However the department remained shut for months due to some or the other reason Sources claimed the department that was opened in February has remained shut for nearly four months now However since its inauguration the machine has failed to remain functional for longer durationsldquoThe machine kept developing technical glitches Eventually they closed the department and started referring patients to other hospitalsrdquo said a hospital staffer requesting anonymity On the other hand the MRI facility that was supposed to be launched on Public Private Partnership PPP basis has also failed to come into operation According to sources the project has remained on paper ever since it was proposed years agoCorporator speakCommenting on the issue Shiv Sena corporator Sudhir Kokate blamed the lack of coordination between the hospital authorities civic body and the state for the existing disarray at the civil hospital Kokate claimed that he has been following up the issue with the public health department regularlyldquoI have written letters to the district guardian minister public health department and nationallevel authorities demanding that the hospital be converted into a multispeciality medical facility Moreover the hospital authorities have exhibited incompetence in bringing the necessary changes to upgrade the hospital Instead they rely on facilities offered by civic hospitals in Mumbairdquo said KokateThe other sideDr Raghunath Rathod additional civil surgeon Thane Civil Hospital said while the responsibility to initiate the MRI services belonged to the public health department they would soon restart the CT scan department by repairing the defunct the machine ldquoThe machine had developed a technical glitch and our engineers are fixing itWithin a day or two it should be operational Talking about the MRI facility none of the civic hospitals offer it I had heard that it was supposed to be operated on PPP PublicPrivate Partnership basis but I donrsquot have further information on the samersquo said Rathod